


Destiny is calling me

by gemgirl28



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Copilot chooses music, F/M, Fluff, I wasn't going to add the fluff tag, If you don't think so, It's a date fic without the date, Katara and Sokka are peak sibling energy, One Shot, Sibling Bonding, Sukka in the background, You've clearly never spent four+ hours in the car with yours, beginning of a relationship, but lets be real, it's there, past Sokka/Yue - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 23:27:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29849112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gemgirl28/pseuds/gemgirl28
Summary: Sokka and Katara are driving to visit Suki on Kyoshi for a long weekend. On the way, Sokka grills Katara about her date with Zuko the night before.
Relationships: Katara & Sokka (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 74





	Destiny is calling me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GuardrailDamageAhead](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuardrailDamageAhead/gifts).



> Ready for another example of "gem is new to fandom"? Before the holidays I had an idea that I wanted to gift [hereforthezutarastuff](https://hereforthezutarastuff.tumblr.com/) a fic to say thank you for being a lovely beta and all around amazing person, but I wasn't sure how to go about it since I wasn't a part of any formal fic exchange. Then I realized I could just...write a fic I knew she would enjoy and gift it to her, but I wasn't sure about what her favorite tropes. So me, in my infinite lack of coolness said "If there's anything you *want* to see me write, let me know". Long story short I did a terrible job of asking and instead, she took it seriously and has since given me four real prompts that I really want to do. This is one of them. Does it even count anymore since you beta'd it? I don't know but they say the thought counts so. Long story short, I wanted to do something nice for this lovely human being that is so nice about my inability to pick tenses and that's how this happened. So anyways, if you aren't sick of reading about how much I love hereforthezutarastuff and have actually made it to the bottom of these notes, I hope you enjoy the story! I love Sokka and Katara's relationship, so exploring that was really fun.

“How much longer does the GPS say now?” Sokka asked, merging onto the left lane of the highway. Katara rolled her eyes but checked the navigation app.

“An hour and twenty minutes. We should still get to Suki’s before dinner,” Katara answered, already pulling her road trip playlist back up. Letting Sokka drive meant frequent snack breaks, but it also meant, as copilot, she got to control the music.

“Ok cool. Can you text-”

“Suki our updated ETA? Already did,” Katara cut him off. “She said her mom has been working on dumplings all day.”

“YES!” Sokka exclaimed, causing Katara to jump a little. She lightly punched his arm, not enough to distract him from the road but enough to prove she was annoyed.

“Hey!” Sokka cried, rubbing his arm. “You know how much I love Suki’s mom’s cooking!”

“You love _all_ cooking,” Katara pointed out.

“Not true,” Sokka stated confidently. “Your boyfriend’s burnt meals suck.”

Katara felt her cheeks flush as she swatted her brother again. “He’s not my boyfriend!”

It was Sokka’s turn to roll his eyes as he snorted. “Yeah ok. You guys are idiots.”

“Hey! We are not,” Katara defended. Sokka snorted as he changed lanes to pass a semi.

“Yes, you are. I mean, you guys have been on what, a hundred dates already? And you’ve been in love with each other for forever. You guys are practically married at this point. Why are you in denial about it?”

Katara’s flush deepened. She very maturely told Sokka to “shove off,” and pretended to check her phone.

“No but really,” Sokka began, his eyes drifting to her for just a moment, “how was your date last night?”

Katara had to bite her lip to stop the dopey grin that wanted to spread across her face. “It was good, I guess.”

Sokka snorted again. “Good, I guess,” he said in a high-pitched tone she assumed was supposed to be her. “You haven’t stopped smiling all day and every time he texts you your face lights up.”

At that moment, of course, another text from Zuko came through.

**_Zuko:_ ** _I hope Sokka isn’t driving you too crazy yet. I just wanted to say again how much fun I had last night. Anyways, I just had a quick break and wanted to check in on you._

“See? Just like that!” Sokka exclaimed, pointing one finger at her face. Katara swatted it out of the way and ducked her head, trying to let her hair cover her heated face.

“Shut up,” she mumbled, composing a reply.

**_Katara:_ ** _He’s determined to have me in a straight jacket before we get to Suki’s but I’ve got my playlist going, so that helps. And I had a great time last night too! I’ll let you know when we cross the bridge to Kyoshi. I don’t want to keep you from work._

After pressing send, Katara locked her phone and set it in the console.

“So are you going to actually tell me about your date, or do I have to drag it out of Suki later?” Sokka asked.

“Why do you care so much?” Katara deflected. She knew she would only gush about the previous night, and the last thing she wanted to do in front of Sokka was gush.

“Because I care, baby sis,” Sokka said, sounding surprisingly genuine. “Because Zuko is my best friend and if you have to end up with anyone, you could do a lot worse than him.”

Katara reached over and squeezed Sokka’s arm affectionately. “Awwww aren’t you sweet,” she teased lightly. Sokka pretended to brush off her hand, gesturing for her to continue. Katara let out a heavy sigh but turned down the volume of the stereo.

“So first we got dinner at the Jasmine Dragon, but his Uncle set up a private table for us on the rooftop. We had a gorgeous skyline view of the city,” Katara said, already feeling herself gush.

“What did you have for dinner?” Sokka interrupted.

“Uh, I think I had the beef stir fry? And we had a pot of this delicious tea! It was so fruity without being too sweet. And of course some of the pastries.”

Sokka mumbled something under his breath. “What?” Katara asked, but Sokka shook his head.

“Nothing. What’d you do after dinner?”

“We went ice skating! He took me to that indoor rink in the Lower ring.” Katara struggled to keep the dopey grin off her face. She had mentioned in passing how much she missed ice skating to Zuko years ago. Her stomach flipped at the realization that he had remembered something so trivial from a long while back.

Maybe her stomach did an extra tumble or two at the memory of Zuko clinging to her hand as he desperately tried to remain upright. By the time they were done, he no longer needed her support to stay up, but still held her hand. But Katara wasn’t going to tell her brother that.

“That sounds so _cool_ ,” Sokka said, waggling his eyebrows on the last word. Katara groaned internally at his terrible pun.

“So cool,” she deadpanned, refusing to acknowledge her brother’s terrible sense of humor.

“Aw c’mon!” Sokka cried. “That was funny and you know it.”

“Sure,” Katara said flatly. Sokka rolled his eyes but let the joke go.

“So what else happened on the date?” Sokka asked.

“Do you really want to hear how he kissed me goodnight?” Katara deflected, though she flushed again at the memory. Zuko had shyly asked her, as he stood on her doorstep, if he could kiss her, just as he had after their first two dates. Each kiss made it harder for Katara to let him leave.

“What? No! You can skip those oogie details,” Sokka said. Katara held back another snort. She knew she was about to witness her fair share of _oogies_ over the long weekend, but she missed Suki almost as much as Sokka did. It would be worth her brother’s disgusting PDA to spend quality time with her best friend.

“No, I mean, something else happened on the date. What else did you guys do?”

Katara looked out the passenger window, her hands coming up to fidget with the ends of her hair. She closed her eyes, letting the memory wash over her as she began speaking.

“Before dinner… we had a little time, so we went for a walk in the park. Zuko bought a loaf of bread, so we went to feed the turtleducks and… And he talked about his mom,” Katara said, her voice just above a whisper.

Sokka, for the first time in his life, kept his mouth shut and let Katara continue at her own pace.

“He said she used to take him to feed the turtleducks, back when they lived in Caldera. He uh, he said it was one of the few happy memories from his childhood,” Katara said. She knew Zuko had told Sokka a fair bit about his past, but she always worried about oversharing. “I told him about how Mom used to take us to feed the penguins. It was…” Katara trailed off, searching for the right words to describe the mix of emotions she had felt in that moment. Sadness, for a boy with a scarred childhood. Understanding at the loss of their mothers, at the gaping hole that left in their soul. Affection, that he trusted her enough to share that treasured memory.

The car was silent save for the indie song softly playing through the speakers. Katara closed her eyes, drawing up the memory of Zuko crying softly as she held him. He had apologized over and over for ruining the moment, but Katara hushed him every time. “Don’t apologize for being vulnerable,” she had whispered in his ear, her heart cracking as he took a shuddering breath, “You are stronger for it.”

Last night wasn’t the first he had confided in her. Katara learned about Zuko’s troubled past not long after they became friends. The closer they got, the more he opened up to her, showing her the fragile and cracked pieces of his soul. Katara did her best to show him that those parts were just as beautiful as the whole pieces of him.

“I think…” Katara began, her eyes still closed against what she was admitting, “I think I’m falling in love.”

Sokka remained quiet for another beat, then, “I think you two are really good for each other.”

Katara’s eyes opened wide. She was shocked at her brother’s honest expression.

“Look,” he started, catching her surprise, “There’s always going to be a part of me that wishes you would just become a nun and never marry. You’re my baby sister, and I don’t ever want to see you get hurt. And anytime you put your heart on the line, you’re opening yourself up to that possibility.”

Sokka’s eyes flitted to hold her gaze for just a moment before refocusing on the road. “I worry about Zuko too! He’s one of my best friend’s and has been to hell and back with his family. But you two together?” Sokka caught her eye again. “I don’t worry about you hurting each other when you both know what the other has been through.”

“You mean that we’ve already hated each other and got over it?” Katara asked, attempting to lighten the mood again.

“I mean, that too,” Sokka admitted with a shrug. “I don’t know if I’m explaining it well. All I know is when you guys are together, it’s really hard to not believe in true love.”

“Sokka!” Katara cried, tears welling in her eyes, “I think that’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard you say!”

“Yeah well it’s also disgusting and makes me want to throw up. Seriously, you guys are a true test of my gag reflex,” Sokka said, officially ruining the moment. Katara hit his arm again.

“Like you and Suki are any better. I’m probably going to gouge my eyes out before this weekend is over,” Katara jabbed.

“Yeah, well, at least Suki and I are actually in a relationship. It’s expected that we’ll be disgustingly cute around each other. You and Zuko have been tip-toeing around your feelings for so long it’s driving us all mad.”

Katara stilled, anger and affection mixing as she mulled over Sokka’s statement. “I… I do want to be in a relationship with him,” she quietly admitted.

Sokka snorted again, his fingers tapping on the steering wheel in time with the song. “No shit, Sherlock.”

Katara punched him once more, and he cried out. Katara felt a little guilty, but not enough to actually apologize.

“So why aren’t you guys together?” Sokka asked, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. Katara opened her mouth to argue with him but found she had no good reason. She pursed her lips, tilting her head as she mulled over Sokka’s question.

None of her old excuses worked anymore. She could no longer deny her feelings were mutual, not with the way he looked at her like she was the rising sun or the way his goodnight kisses left them breathless. She couldn’t pretend their rocky beginning was a barrier, not when he brought down those walls with every honest confession or shared story.

“What if we break up?” Katara whispered, her heart clenching painfully, “What if we try and we don’t work and we break up? If he didn’t want me in his life anymore- If we couldn’t be friends anymore-” Katara cut herself off, choking back the sudden rush of emotion as she admitted her darkest fear.

“You don’t know that,” Sokka said. “You never know what’s going to happen when you start a relationship.” Sokka turned his head and Katara took a sharp breath, recognizing the pain in his eyes. “You just have to decide if the person is worth the risk.”

Katara watched her brother’s jaw clench, recognizing the tension in his shoulders. “Was she worth it?” Katara quietly asked. Sokka’s expression immediately softened, his eyes glazing with the haze of nostalgia.

“Absolutely. I wouldn’t change a moment of what I had with Yue,” Sokka said confidently. He reached over and squeezed Katara’s shoulder before quickly placing his hand back on the steering wheel. “And Katara?”

“Yeah?”

“All that stuff about being afraid? You should probably talk to Zuko about that. Something tells me he probably feels the same.”

Katara let out a heavy sigh. “I hate it when you’re right, you know that?”

Sokka smirked. “You’d think you’d be used to it by now, considering how I’m always right.”

This time Sokka dodged her swing, but Katara wasn’t really trying. She reached to turn the music back up, pausing for just a moment. “Thanks Sokka,” she said.

“Anytime, sis.” Katara turned the volume back up, ignoring Sokka’s screeches as he sang along. She opened her messages, pulling up her conversation with Zuko. Katara drafted and deleted ten messages before finally pressing send.

**_Katara:_ ** _Do you think we could have a picnic in the park when I get back?_

Zuko’s response came through immediately.

**_Zuko:_ ** _Of course!_

**_Katara:_ ** _Great! I can’t wait!_

Katara made up her mind. No matter what, she was going to tell Zuko how she felt when they got back.

Satisfied with her plan, Katara scrolled through her playlist till she found “Mr. Brightside.” She blasted the song, loud enough that she couldn’t hear her own voice as she and Sokka sang along.

**Author's Note:**

> My estimates of travel time from Ba Sing Se to Kyoshi by car are thanks to these [estimates](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheLastAirbender/comments/2isslt/some_rough_number_estimates_for_the_world_of/) which were brought to my attention by the lovely [Goldilocks](https://formerlygoldilocks.tumblr.com/).
> 
> Come say hi on tumblr [gemgirl28](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/gemgirl28) !


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